ALEX SMIT Il

Ope n Cha mpion of the Cnited States a nd \'"estern O pe n C ha mpion

• Golf Lessons In

BY

AL EX SM I T H

Opm ChO!llpiOII, U1Iited States

find W estern Opetl Champ ion

New Y ork, A RT H UR POTTOW ,

48 W est 27 th Street

T l l lc ll l'. \J) 1:\('1- 1:\ 1': 1) .\ LITTLE FOJ{W .\ IW . \ ;'\ 1) LOOKTKC DO\\';-<

INTROD UC TION 21

own reason. r rc may buy a set of club a nd set h imself to whackin o' a ball a bout a ten-acre lot , but the chances a re not one in a thousand that he w il l hit upon t he r ig ht way of playing golf . I [ere and there a genius Ill ay work out hi s own salvat ion, but I am speaking of the ordi na ry man ; he must have S01lle so rt of g uide if he is ever go ing to fin d the right path. It is fo r h im, then, that these papers a re wr itten ; a state1llent as st ra ightforward and p ractica l as I know how to make it, of the essenti als underl ying the art of golf. I don't pretend to say that the studen t will be abl e to make a fin ished go lfer out of himself by mean of these lessons, but he may rea onably expect that by follow ing them he can lay the fo un dation of a sound game. T here is everything in beginnin o' ri ght.

By way of further explanat ion I must po in t out that golf, and good golf, is poss ible under condit ions that superficially seem Cj uite a t va ria nce. F or e~a11lple, one ma n plays with an uprig ht sw ing and another in a sty le app roaching th e hori zonta l. n th pla.\·e rs g·et th e ball away in masterful style a ne! a re ranked as class men. ; \ ga in, take the question of stance, by which is mea nt the posi tion of the player 's feet in refe rence to the ball. .:'IIr . Horace Hutchinson cl ra \\'s back h is r ight foot a nd stand s with the ball nearly opposite the left heel. T hi s is the position recommended in Badm,in­ton, and is the stance used almost uni ver a ll y by the older school of gol fe rs, both professional a nd a mateur , O ne can­not say tha t the pos ition is unsoun d, and ye t nea rly all o f the lead ers nowadays, including Vardon, T aylor, and B raid , stand with the ri ght foot advanced, the open pos ition, T he ubvious conclusion would seem to be that the ext reme in eith er direct ion should be avoided.

Go to a champ ionship meeting and you will see golfers playing in what seems to be an infi ni te diversity of fo rm , O ne playe r swings back wi th pain staking deliberation , another like a fl ash of lightning ; one J11an gets hi s distance by J11eans of hi s a rms and body; another throug h perfect

22 LESSONS f N GOLF

wrist action; here is a player who comes down on the ball with the force of a pile-driver, whil e his partner has the careless little flick of a man cutting off a daisy head with a riding switch. A nd yet they all accomplish about the same results; one after another the ball s leave the tee and come to rest two hundred or more yards away straight down the fair green.

Vil ell , what is the conclusion at which we must arrive? I s it that golf may be and is played in any old way? By no manner of mean. \ Ve must look deeper and th en we shall see that in spite of apparent differences all th ese styles possess certain similarities- th e es entia ls of good golf. Granted th ese essentials and golf is possible under many different applications of the basic principles; ignore th em, and no golf whatever is the result.

A nd so in preparing these lesson papers I have tri ed to lay down the cardinal, the universal, the indi spensable principles upon which all golf is founded. ITatu rally, I teach the style in which I play myself. If you, 1\lr. :\Tovice, could com to me in person fo r in truction, I should probably modify 111y th eories more or Ie s to suit your parti cular case. I should ask you to sw in o' a club for me that I might size up your natural way of O"etting at the ball. Q uite possibly I hould concl ude to develol your gam e along your characteristic lin es; I should cer tainly not attempt to put you in a stra it­jacket in order to turn out a slavi h and ineffective imitation of 111 y own form. Dut you cannot come to me, and so the best I can do is to indicate to you what I have learned f rom my own experience, and trust to your intelligence to a imi­late what is really essential and un iversal. I do say, however , that a g reat deal of rubbish is talked about phys ical inapti ­tudes and in capacities-that it is imposs ible that A should play in B 's style, or vice versa. 0 long as a man is not l os itively mi sformed or abnormal in any one direction he ought to be abl e to learn any sound system of golf. Later on, when he has rea ll y acquired a game, he can work out his

I

TUR N TTlI~ .BODY TO TIl E RI GHT, STILL KEI~ I'I NC; TTTE HE .\]) I N

ITS ORfGIN 1\L POSiTION

24 LESSONS IN COLF

own theories and perhaps improve upon his original tuition. The one thing is to acquire the essentials; the mannerisms may be trusted to assert and take care of themselves . A theory must first be thoroughly understood before we can venture to improve upon it.

In the practical application of these lessons I would sug·· gest working in pairs . By himself the beginner is apt to get wrong impressions of what be is doing; he may think that he is faithfully following out the directions given in the text, while he is really misunderstanding them either in whole or in part. This caution applies particularly to the preliminary exercises for stance, grip and swing. It is not a sufficient guarantee ag"ainst error to practise before a looking-glass , as one cannot judge with accuracy fr0111 a reflection , and the first principle of golf is to keep the eye on the ball. Let your fellow-student follow the text, diagrams, and illustrations while you are doing the thing itself. H e is in the position of the coach to point out and correct the mistakes, and in turn you can perform the same kindly office for him. Two minds, and especially two pairs of eyes, are better than one.

One final admonition: Don't exaggerate anyone point at the expense of everything else. It is a common tendency with beginners at golf to imagine that the whole 'secret lies in this or that little detail-the bend of an elbow, the turn of a hand, the position of a foot. This is an error. The true golf swing is built up from many small details into a symmetrical whole, and conscious exaggeration in anyone direction may throw the entire mechanism out of adjust­ment. I shall try to make you understand what is really important and indispensable and the rest you may leave to nature. Don't trust to nostrums or cure-alls, particularly those of your own invention . Golf is a science and not a bag of tricks . And now, if you please, we will get at the business in hand .

LESSON I

First Principles

The first idea of the beginner is to provide himself with a full set of clubs; generally, he goes to some department store, where an obliging clerk speedily loads him up with an expensive assortment of wooden and iron furniture, called golf clubs by courtesy. A far better plan is to consult your local clubmaker, since he will at least have some faint idea of fitting you to your tools and so save you both time and money. If there be no such professional adviser available, you can almost certainly find some golf-playing friend who will go with you to the shop and help you make a selection. Should you be obliged to rely on yom own j uclgment, I can only advise you to avoid clubs that are on the freak order and also extremes in length or weight. The illustration shows my own playing set, together with their measurements, but you will note that I am a fairl y powerful man- s ft.9 7i in. in height, and weighing 170 pounds. You will perhaps do better to pick out a driver of from 42 to 44 inches in length and weighing 12 7i ounces, with the other clubs in proportion . Be particular about the shafts. That of the driver may have a little whip in it, so long as the spring is not under the gTip, but well down towards the socket. The shaft of the brassey and cleek should be a bit stiffer and the wood of the other iron clubs should have no spring whatever. A great point is balance, and that is a quality impossible to describe on paper. Perhaps you know what it is in a gun, a fishing rod or a tennis racket, and it is equally indispensable in a golf club. The factories turn out the machine-made clubs in enormous quantities and do not put them together with the careful skill and intelligence of the good clubmaker. In consequence, many of these clubs have no balance at all and

FIl\I SH WTTH A IIALF ITRN TO TIlE LEFT

FIRST PRINCIPLES 27

are worse than useless . The club must feel to your hand as though it would play, and remember that a goocl shaft is much harder to find th an a passable head. I don't believe in light clubs. O f c urse, I don't mean that you should overclub yourself, and if your wrists are exceptionally weak you lllay have to humor them at first . As heavy a club as you can swing with comfort ; later on I will explain why.

For a fir st set you will need a driver, a brassey, a cleek, a midiron, a niblick, and a putter. The salesman will un­doubtedly tell you that a mashie is the one indispensable club in any golfer 's kit, but for your first practise and initial rounds I shoul d prefer that you use the mic1iron for your approaches . The lllash.ie is one of the lllOst difficult of clubs to use effectively; indeed, it proper handling is an art in itself. Top a ball with a mashie and it runs like a prairie fir e. Moreover, all heav il y lofted clubs have an innate tendency to hook th e ba ll , by which I mean causing it to swerve to the left of the lin e of play. T he 1l1idiron is la id back quite fa r enoug h to enable you to get over any ordinary obstacle, and its straight face is an a id to direction. Later on you can take up th mashie and grapple with the finer mysteries of the lofted approach.

The brassey should be as close a duplicate as possible of the driver; in deed, it differs only in having a brass plate screwed on its sole and in being slightly laid back or lofted. I prefer short-hea ded wooden clubs, as the weight is thereby kept close behind th ball, where it will do the most good . The face should be fa irly deep . T he old-fashioned drivers and brasseys, such a I used when a boy on Carnollstie links, were beautiful tools with which to pick up a ball , but their skying tendencies have put them out of the modern play.

I recommend th e cleek and not the driving mashie , whi ch is its ordina ry substitute in many a golfer's bag. People will tell you that they cann ot play with a cleek. The answer to such nOllsen e is-learn , then. Th e cleek is, indeed, a diffi cult club to master, but it is well worth the

SW IN G T if f': W .\LKI:f G STTCK .\ROU"!) TO '1' 111': RTGllT

FIRST PRINCIPLES 29

trouble, ami no man can call himself a golfer unless he can use it. But don't begin with it on the teeing ground because it looks easier to handle than a wooclen club. Properly, the cleek is only used through the g reen with the one exception of the short hole whose distance corresponds to its normal range.

Midirons a re pretty much of a pattern ; you:s should be fair ly heavy, with a stiff haft. Th e best niblicks have a broad-lipped sole and plenty of weight.

You may su it your own fancy in putters-goose-neck, putting cleek, or th e old-fashioned models in aluminum or wood. I don 't think much of th e iron putter proper, with its perfectly straight ocket and upright face; nowadaY3 they are generally made of gun metal and are used chiefly by ladies. De sure that your lutter, of whatever style, is on the heavy side; a lig ht-h eaded club is useless on the green.c.

You wi ll need half a dozen ball s " nd a sponge-cup for cleaning them. A white ball is pleasanter to play \\'ith than a dirty one, and I think it is easier to hit. In an importan t match it always g ives one a feeling of fr esh confidence to pnt down a new ball, and the next best thing is a clean one.

If your hands a re ten ler, in clined to become blistered or calloused, you may need glove . Dut only the one for the left hand is really necessary, as you will soon discover for you rself. A g love on the rig ht hand interferes more or less with the sense of touch, particularly in putting.

At last we a re ready to begin , but we are not yet prepared to play our fir st round ; indeed, I wi ll ask you to let yom clubs stay in the bao' until you have mastered a simple e"ercise or two. vor I have now to impress upon your mind one of the prime essential s of good rlay.

It sounds very simple-~ )lour head stead)" But in practise it isn' t so easy. T he natural inclination is to let th e body follow the club in th up swin g, and of course the head goes with it. This sway ing to the rig ht is a COlllmon fault of the beginn er, and it is quite the worst one that he can

, . ,\ FOR THE DOWN S\NING IMJ\GINE YOU ARE EXECUTING THE

OlWINARY BACK-HAND STROKE AT TENNIS

THE RIGHT WRIST TURNS SLIGHTLY OUT

32 LESSONS IN COLF

commit . It keeps the body from entering properly in to the st roke and as the a rc of the circle in which the club head sw ings is con tantly chang ing, accurate hi tt ing is rendered impossible. It may be laid down as an indispensabl e pr in­c iple that th e body turns only npon its vertical axis throuo'h­out the stroke, whil e the head is kept virtuall y tationary. To make yon understand this I am going' to give you a "setting up" exercise, as they call it in the a rmy.

D raw a chalk lin e on the floor or ground and stand with the left toe just touching the line and th e right foot half way ac ross it. ~~he kn~s be2 1ightLy bent, as this will throw the weight back upon the heels where it ought to be. T he feet sh uld not be too near together nor too wide apart, ancl both toes should be turned out. L et the arms fa ll naturall y at th e sid e with the head inclined a little forward and 10 king down. ~ow turn the body to the rigbt, st ill keeping th head ill

it o rig inal position. A fter you have made about a quarter turn you will not be able to go further with any comfort un less you do one of t\\"o things-eith er you must sway to the right or you must ease off the strain 0 11 the left leo'. The fi rst is wrong, the second right; but you will not rret the cor rect iclea by simply rising on the left toe. The pr I er motion is tolet th £ left knee k12uckle in towards the right leg. T hi will naturaJ1y drag the left heel off the ground and so permit the body to make a half turn to the rig ht and still maintain its perpendicularity. The swing to the righ t pr perly ends when the left sill;mlder fa_c~Jtuare l y to_the front. The rest of the exercise is very simple. From the extreme position to the right bring th e body back to its orig inal stance and then fini sh with a half turn to the left. As the body turns back the left heel naturally finds the floor and the right one ri ses with the half turn to the left. A nd all this time the head has been kept as immovable as possibl e, with the eyes fixed on the floor.. There is nothing difficult abo ll t this exercise; it can be acquire I perfectly in five FI :\! I S II 0 1'" T ill , R I (; IJT II J\ N D SW l NG

34 LESSONS IN GOLF

minutes, but it is Illost important as tend ing to impress upon your mind the absolute necessity of keeping th e head sta­tionary.

A second essential is the proper wrist action. At last you think I am going to let you take a club in hand, but please have patience. I first want to give you a left hand and then a right hand exercise, and for this purpo e a crook-handled walking stick or roIled-up umbrella (also with a crook handl e) is bette r, as being lighter than a club, and so more easily managed.

Take the a111e stance as indicated for the "setting up" exerci e and g rasp the cane or u1l1br I1a by its lower end, so that the crook handle serves in place of the club head. Let the left thumb li e on top of the shaft and stra ight down it. This will insure the proper g rip , with the back of the hand well over.

Sw ing th walkin g stick around to the right, all111ng at the point of the right shoulder. The left wrist will properly turn in slightly (towards the body) 0 t hat ~vhen the stick is ~ve Il up the left a rm wilf be - lying clo e to the chest and you can see the fu ll back of the left hand. The motion is so simple that you can hardly go wrong in it. For the down swing imagin that you are executing th ordinary back-

{

han d stroke at telln is. You will soon discover that it is this 1 slight inward turn of th e lef~ wrist th";t give;- th; po\Ve~ at;d . J snap to the stroke, and that is all that there is in ih _ -

Now for the right hand exercise. Grasp the shaft in ~lCh a way that you_ can ~l~!.2~e the nails of the r~ght l1alld,_ '-:E~ hold the stick a~ much as possible in th e fingers.. In this right hand g rip the thumb should be around the shaft- not on top of it-and the holding power wiIl be secured by iamming' the baft between the thumb and forefinge r. You will be surprised to see how much of a grip you can obtain by holding the club in this finger fashion rather than sunk in the palm of the hand .

,

FINISH OF THE LEFT HAND SWI~G

36 LESSONS IN COLF

N ow, in the swing back, pay particular attention to the point of the right elbow . It should not swing straight out and up from your body, J,lli!3round it and as clo~ to the side as possible. The right wrist turns sl ightly out, so that at

-the top-~wing you still see the finger nail s of your right hane!. The chief thing in thi s exercise is to keep the point of the rio-ht elbow do~nd close to the_sideL-~ld_to_ swing it aro.und tl~ body in a backward directioll. The reason why I will give in the proper place.

There should be enough in thi s series of movements to occupy your attention for the first afternoon of practise. These exerci ses are not very amusing, perhaps, but they are worth acquiring perfectly in order to prepare for your real start. A little ha rd, conscien tious work now will save you many future hours of blundering and disappointment. And remember my suggestion, that you practise in company with a partner or fellow -student.

LESSON II

Stance, Grip, and Swing

'vVe are now ready for the two-handed swing with the driver. Take up your stanceL as already directed, with the left toe just touching the chalk line, and the right foot half \vay _a~rosj it-:- - This is the- openpos ition, So~alled , and it is the one used by the vast majority of modern players . There are some golfers who stand w ith the toe of the rio-ht b

foot two or three inches back of the line, and a still smaller number whose stance is exactly squa re, that is, with the toes of both feet touching the line. The open position, which I strongly recommend, permits a free follow-through of the club, and the player has a feeling that he knows where he is going to drive the ball. A nother advantage is that over­~winging is checked, to a great extent, and the beginner IS very apt to commi t thi s fa ul t in striving after what he imagines to be a full St. Andrew's swing.

The grip is taken as follows: Grasp the club in the left ~lan~et~ing~ the thuml:> li e on the t op of the shaft directly §Jh~ middle. Now shift tile thumb.. so thaLit cQils aroull(\ ~he <:!ub handle but r ests on the nail of the forefinger. This IS a somewhat unusual po'sition for the thumb but I favor it for the reason that it permits the two hands ~o be brOlwht b

closer together. If the thumb simply curl s itself around the shaft, its k~uckle prevents the right hand from snugging close up to Its fellow. It is important to get the hands to work, a.s nearly as possible, as one, and this can only be done by g ett1l1g them together. So much for the grip with the left hand.

N ow place the .£igJlt hand on the shaft directly below the upper or left hand, and gently pressed against it. The I~ ight hand should be turned somewhat under the shaft, so that

ALEX SMITH

r\l ex S ll1 ith . th e open champion of the L'- ni tecl S tates, was b::> rn in Ca rnousti e, Forfarshire. Scotl and , th irty-three yea rs ago. Like a ll th e Carnoustie boys he was in th e habit of swing ing a o'olf club from hi s ea rli est years, and it would be imposs ibl e to say how old he wa ' when he made his fir st appea ra nce on the links. R eali zing that a t g'oif more tha n at any oth er game practice a lone makes perfect , Smith devoted him elf J11 0 t assiduously to th e game, with the re­sult that he atta ined proficiency at a comparatively early age. In 1895 he was placed among the scratch pl ayers of hi s club, a nd in 1896 th e committee rated him so hig hly as to put him in that select class who had to allow st rokes to th e scratch players. At one time 0 1' a noth er he won most of the trophi es of hi s olel club. His fir st bi o' v ictory was when he secu reel the Gold Cross ( scratch ) an I th is was followed up by hi s securi ng tw ice in success ion the handsome sil ver kettl e p re ented by th e Caledonia Cl ub to its sister club on its Jubil ee in 1892.

In 1897 he won the Stevenson Cup, a trophy for scratch play. hav in g on the full medal course the fin e score of 79. Th e Dalhousie Club presented a Jubi lee cup to th e Carn ousti e lub, a nd in the fir st competi t ion A lex Smith went righ t through th e competition to the fin a l, when he was defeated. In September, 1897, he succeeded in lowering th e r ecord for Carnol1stie links. F or some yea rs it had stood at 75 un t il S mith came in with 74. Tn many of the team lllatche he di ting uished himself . P laying again st St. Andrew's he had the well -known player, David L eitch, as an opponent. and th e Carnousti e g olfer had L eitch one down at the fin ish, a result which was reversed when th e\" met at S t. A ndrew·s.

12 LESSONS IN GOLF

For nin e years he was with R obert Simpson, th e famou s club maker of Carn oustie, and five of these years he was S impson' s fo reman, there can therefore be no doubt of his ability as a club maker.

A lex S mith came to America in 1898 as profe si nal to the 'Washing ton Park Club of Chicago, an organization no longer in existence. Fred Herd, a broth er of A lex. Herd, shared th e duti es of professional with him. T he yea r he landed he played in hi s fir st American championship, th e comi eti­tion bein o' held at the ,jIyopia Hunt Club, H amilton, ,j1a ., which th en had a nin e-hole course of 2960 yard. T he Washi ng ton Park players carried all before them, H rd winnin g with 328 and Alex Smith bein g' second with 335· Smith' s best round was a 78. Those who played wer Willi e A nderson, who has turned th e tabl es on him sev­era l tim es since, and who fini shed third 'with 336, and lex 's broth er vVilli e, wh o came in fifth with 340. \ !\T illi e re­ve rsed matters at Baltimore next year, winning th e open championship with 315 . .-\Iex Smith was off hi s game and could do no better than 337·

T he A meri can O pen Championsh ip of 1900 was made memorabl e by the presence in it of J. H. Taylor, who was th en British Open Champion, and Harry Vardon th e famous E ng li sh golfer . A merican golf was entirely over hadowed by the performan ce of the two great E ngli sh players, Vardon bein O' first with 313 and Taylor second with 3I5. Smith on th i occasion was not among the leaders .

In 19 01 th e Myopia Hunt Club had an eighteen-hole course, generall y accepted as being the best in the country, and in the Open Championship held there Smith g reatl y di -t ino'ui shed himself. Besides good golf he required nerve, and neith er was wanting. In th e last round he needed an 80 to ti e the low core made by vVillie Anderson, ane! it wa n t expected that he would succeed, for no playe r in th e comp tition had returned an 80. H owever , th e old arn u­stie player was equal to the task and so he had to play fE the

ALEX SMITH 13

tie with A nderson. The play-off was at eighteen holes and Anderson won with 85 to Smith 's 86.

In I 90 1 Smith left vVashing ton Park and came East, be­ina' eno'ao'eel as lJrofess ional by th e Nassau Country Club ,

b b b t

of Glen Cove, Long I sland, and he has remained with that club ever since. ' It ha a very excellent conrse of full lenoth and no doubt some of th e improvement manifesteel

b . f in Sm ith 's game l11u st be asc ribed to the opportul11ty a -forded him of being able to play over so good a green. In th e 19 02 Open Champion hip at Garden City, which was won by Lawrence uchterlonie with 307, Smith was again outside the money with 331.

In next year' s Open Championship at th e Baltusrol Golf Club, Short Hi ll s, N . J., he did much better, finishing fourth with 316. vVillie nderson, the ubsequent winner, and David Brown ti eing for fir st place w ith 30 7.

190 4 was \ iVillie Anderson's year , not Smith 's . The form er player won th e Open hampionship at the Glen V iew Club, Chicago, with 303 , mith taking twenty-one strokes more.

In 1905 Smith made a very d istinct advance, and gave the first unmi stakable indication that he was soon to be found in that small ancl select class-the world's great golfers. The nrst M etropolitan Golf Association Open Championsh ip was held at th e Fox I-Iill s Golf Club, Staten Island, N . Y ., and it brought out a strong entry list. Smith was notable at this tournament not only on account of hi s nne play. but because he used a club having a shaft fifty-one inches in lenoth. vVith thi s fo rmidable weapon he did g reat execution, as hi s winning of the championship shows, but he abandoned it some time after and was content with a shaft fo rty-s ix an l one-fourth inches in length. H e was not di ssatisned with th e long-shafted clubs. T o use his own words. he gave th em up "simply because they were a nuisance to carry ar und. " H e and his old rival Willie A nderson tied for fir st place, with 300, g-reat going

14 LESSONS IN COLF

for a difficult course like Fox Hills, and when they came to the play-off, fortune for once was on Smith 's side. J-Ie had 74 to Anderson 's 76.

Despite a bad attack of malaria, he did g reat work in the Open Championship at the Myopia Hunt Cl ub a month late:-. vVillie Anderson came in first with 314, and Smith W~3

second with 3 I 6. The year 1906 was al1110st a season of unbroken success

for him. He was victo rious in almost every competition i:1 which he took part, and closed the year with a record such as had never been attained by an American golfer. The first great open event of the season of 1906 was the vVestern Open Championship, held at the Homewood Country Club, Flossmoor, near Chicago, a quite difficult course of 6,144 yards. On this occas ion the National Open Championship was to be held at the Onwentsia Club, Lake Forest. near Chicago, shortl y after the Vvestern Open . This fixture brought to Chicago all the leading professionals of the country, and as the vVestern Golf Association allowed them to play in the sectional event, it became almost as important as the N ational Open itself. To start with, Smith had a bad round for him- an 82- and \ /Villie Anderson had a 74-so that he was at the beginning of the second round eigh ~

strokes worse than the man who was then considered the greatest golfer in America. I-lis temperament came to the rescue, and this with his good golf led to three subsequent

rounds of 75 , 75 and 74- very brilliant work-and enabled him to win the Championship with 306.

The Open Championship at Onwentsia, a week later, was

made memorable by Alex Smith winning it in 295, one stroke lower than Jack \lVhite had at Sandwich in 1904 in winning the British Open Championship and constituting a world's record for an event of such importance. He played four

rounds of 73, 74, 73, 75 respectively over a course of 6, 107 yards, the last round being played in a downpour of rain.

ALEX SMITH 15

In the fir st round he had a 7. Th e card of this perform-ance IS gIven:

TH U RSDA Y

Morning, out... .. 4 3 4 4 4 4 5 4 4- 36 In ... ............. ........ 3 5 7 4 3 5 3 4 3- 37- 73

Afternoon, out... ..... 5 4 5 4 4 4 4 3 4- 37 In 4 5 5 4 4 4 3 4 4- 37-74- 147

FRIDAY

IVlorning, out... ... .... 4 3 5 4 5 3 3 4 4- 35 In ............ 4 5 5 4 4 4 3 5 4- 38- 73

Afternoon , out ...... 5 4 6 4 4 4 4 4 4-39 In .... .. .................. 4 5 5 4 4 5 2 3 4- 36-75-148- 295

The Smith family was well in front at Onwentsia. A lex' s brother vVillie was second, with 302, and his brother-in-law, James Maiden, tied fo r third place, at 305, with Lawrenc e Auchterlonie.

The cream of the Eastern professional talent met in \la:1 Cortlandt Park, New York, in August, in their annual tw :> days' competition. Here again Smith was victorious, winning the 72-hole competition with a score of 301, the next man having' 306.

By two strokes he was beaten in the Metropolitan Open Championship at the Hollywood Golf Club, Long Branch , N . ]., that fin e golfer, George Low, of the Baltusrol Golf Club- like Smith a Carnoustie man- winning with 294.

I-Ie closed the season of I906 with a nother g reat victory, when he won the championship of the Eastern Professional Golfers' A ssociation at the Forest Hill (~ . J. ) F ield Club. Smith had 146, and A lex Campbell was second with 149.

Smith has won the Open Championship of California three times, and has r ecent! y won the Florida Championship . To record all his notable doings would requi re too much space. It is worth mention, however, that he has clone his home course at N assau in 66, fi gures which speak for themselves.

16 LE.SSONS IN COLF

The score 1S so extraordinary that the full card, with dis­tances, is given: Out--l , 310, 3; 2, 500, 4; 3, 310, 3 ; 4, 325,3; 5, 405,5; 6, 391, 4; 7,161,2; 8,370,4; 9,375,4· T otal, 32. 1n-1O, 390, 4 ; II, 190, 4 ; 12, 395, 3; 13, 300, 3; 14, 392, 5; IS, 443, 4 ; 16, 360, 4 ; 17, 140, 4; 18, 280, 3· T otal, 34.

\ ;\fithout doubt an equally brilliant career is still before him .

LESSONS IN GOLF Introduction

Let me begin by assuming that the reader of these words has never yet taken club in banel. He desires to become a golfer ; bow must be set about it? T he obvious a nswer is that he should take lessons from a good professional in­structor. That is undoubtedly the surest and best method fo r arriving at results r eall y satisfactory. A competent coach quickly sizes up his man; he discern s his natural capacity for the game, and by the aid of precept and example soon has h im started on the right road. The novice has the inestimable advantage of actually seeing how the different strokes are played, anel, provided that he is mentally and physically sound, there is no reason why h e should not develop an effect ive game.

But if this statement is true, why am I wntJl1g a book ; if the practical method is so much the preferable one, why am I putting these lessons clown upon paper? This is a fai r question, and one that I am bound to answer in the same spi rit .

I did advise professional instruction, but you will note that I qualified the words by the adj ective, good. In­deed, that makes all the difference between success and failure. Tbere a re plenty of professionals, who playa good game themselves, who are yet utterly incompetent to t each anyone else. In the first place, a coach should thoroughly know the theo ry upon which his own game is based; other­wise it is obviously impossible to make the pupil understand what is required of him . A professional golfer who has developed his game according to the instinctive or natural method , may play ve ry well without taking any thought